Cilliers Trial: Pliers Were Used To Cause Gas Leak, Court Hears

A set of pliers belonging to an Army sergeant accused of attempting to murder his wife was used to create a gas leak at his home, a court has heard.

Emile Cilliers of the Royal Army Physical Training Corps is on trial at Winchester Crown Court accused of attempting to kill Victoria Cilliers by tampering with her parachute.

The 37-year-old also faces a second attempted murder charge and a third charge of sabotaging the gas fitting by loosening a nut on a valve in a kitchen cupboard at the Cilliers' family home in Amesbury, Wiltshire, a few days earlier.

The trial has heard that Mrs Cilliers, 40, reported smelling gas at the property on March 30th, 2015, while her husband had spent the previous night at his barracks because he said he wanted to avoid the Monday morning traffic.

Dried blood was also found on the pipe, which the court has heard was a match for Cilliers.

Forensic scientist Mark Kearsley told the court that he had carried out a microscopic examination of the nut and a set of mole-grip adjustable locking pliers owned by Cilliers.

Cilliers has said he used the pliers to try to tighten the nut when he had returned home before the gas engineer arrived, but had been unable to do so because it was too tight.

Mr Kearsley said impressions left on the nut were a "conclusive" match for the markings of the pliers but that they had been used in a "loosening and not tightening motion". He said:

"The nut must have been in a tightened position to lead to the impression we had, if the nut was loose it would just have turned with the tool."

He added a "significant" degree of force would have been used.

He pinpointed the "small leak" to a nut on a gas fitting in a cupboard next to the oven in the kitchen and he was able to fix it by tightening the nut by a "quarter turn maximum".

He said it was not unusual to find such a leak and explained that as well as a tool, the nut could have become loosened or "relaxed" by repeated changes in temperature or by being knocked by food tins being placed in the cupboard.

Gas safety consultant Howard Reed said he inspected the property and found the valve was not faulty.

Cilliers denies two counts of attempted murder and a third charge of damaging the gas valve, recklessly endangering life.

Cover picture courtesy of Wiltshire Police/PA.